The Best Films of 2019, According to Critics: Part 2 (#30-#1)

 To view the results from Part 1, click here.

And now onto the rest of the countdown...

30. ASH IS THE PUREST WHITE (dir: Jia Zhangke)

175 points

Director Jia Zhangke's examination of the changing landscape of China continues with this story focused on the perspective of a convicted mob girlfriend over the course of multiple decades. This movie placed #62 in the 2018 countdown.

28(tie). VITALINA VARELA (dir: Pedro Costa)

176 points

Vitalina Varela, one of the breakout stars of Pedro Costa's previous movie, Horse Money (#41 in the 2015 countdown), stars in a movie based on her own life. As with all Costa movies, it is set in the slums of Lisbon. This movie marks the highest in all my years of collecting year-end top-ten lists from film critics in which I've ever seen a movie placed in the countdown without even getting a commercial release yet. 

28(tie). APOLLO 11 (dir: Todd Douglas Miller)

176 points

A documentary to commemorate the 50th anniversary of man's historic first landing on the moon, with new 70mm footage that was previously never released to the public. The movie won three Primetime Emmy Awards, and was heralded for its editing.

27. WAVES (dir: Trey Edward Schultz)

185 points

Sterling K. Brown stars as the patriarch of a family whose lives get turned upside down following the heinous actions of his troubled son. Also starring Taylor Russell and Kelvin Harrison Jr. This is Trey Edward Schults' second appearance on the countdown, following a #37 ranking for Krisha back in 2016.

26. HUSTLERS (dir: Lorene Scafaria)

198 points

Based on the New York Magazine article "The Hustlers at Scores" by Jessica Pressler, Hustlers tells the story of strippers working at New York's Moves, and they banded together in the early Obama years to drug and steal money from clients. Featuring Jennifer Lopez (who received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance), Constance Wu, Keke Palmer, and various callbacks to the late 2000s and early 2010s. 

25. HIGH LIFE (dir: Claire Denis)

222.5 points

Claire Denis' crazy, psychosexual space film starring Robert Pattinson and Juliette Binoche re-appears in the countdown thanks to its commercial release in the United States. It appeared at #52 back in the 2018 rankings

23(tie). TRANSIT (dir: Christian Petzold)

270 points

Petzold's follow-up to Phoenix (#11 in the 2015 countdown), with Franz Rogowski starring as a political refugee who takes up the identity of a murdered comrade in a town where the murdered man's wife (Paula Beer) is waiting to reunite and take a ship away for safety. This tense anti-fascism film also appeared at #40 in the 2018 countdown.

23(tie). A HIDDEN LIFE (dir: Terrence Malick)

270 points

A movie about the real-life story of Franz Jagerstatter, an Austrian who faces political and social persecution for refusing to fight for the Nazis during World War II. With a runtime of nearly three-hours, this feature is one of Malick's most narratively coherent in years: with an easy-to-understand story to go along with the always superb imagery he presents (and boy is Jorg Widmer's cinematography here just incredible!). It's also the highest placed a Malick movie has been since The Tree of Life topped #1 on the 2011 poll.

22. THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO (dir: Joe Talbot)

276 points

A darling at the Sundance Film Festival, about a black man who becomes obsessed over an old Victorian home in San Francisco that his grandfather claimed to live in.

21. AVENGERS: ENDGAME (dir: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo)

277 points

The climactic end of the 11 year Marvel Cinematic Universe saga that began with 2008's Iron Man, with Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark and the remaining Avengers attempting to deal with the fallout of half the population being wiped out after the end of Infinity War. The movie broke practically all of the international box office records, including Avatar's record for the largest worldwide box office. Sort of fitting for this to occur in 2019, in what was possibly the last year in which the cinemas was the dominant venue in which people went to watch new movies (time will tell to see how the pandemic influences this).

20. JOJO RABBIT (dir: Taika Waititi)

277.5 points

A dark coming-of-age story about a little boy (Roman Griffin Davis) who grows up right in the middle of the Nazi regime in Germany. Winner of the Audience Award at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, this movie won over enough people to be nominated for six Academy Awards, with Waititi picking up the award for Best Adapted Screenplay. This is the fourth time a Waititi movie has appeared on the countdown in the past five years.

19. ATLANTICS (dir: Mati Diop)

300.5 points

A Senegalese town becomes haunted with visions of ghosts and zombies following the sinking of a raft of local men who attempted to set out to Europe for work. This is Mati Diop's first feature, winning the Grand Prix at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Given the level of praise for the picture, it's fair to say that cinema has a new auteur on their hands.

18. AD ASTRA (dir: James Gray)

306 points

Brad Pitt plays an astronaut set on a secret mission to send a message to his father (played by Robert Duvall) who might still be alive and sending signals form a spaceship near Pluto. This marks the highest-ranked film yet in the countdown for James Gray, surpassing The Immigrant's #21 spot in 2014 and The Lost City of Z's #23 spot in 2017.

17. 1917 (dir: Sam Mendes)

307.5 points

While this did not beat Parasite for Best Picture at the Oscars, many betting prognosticators did have this WWI movie as a big contender for the award. With the help of Roger Deakins' breathtaking shots and one-take nature of the look that made everything feel like a two-hour roller coaster ride from hell, the movie managed to deliver in the eyes of many. It also helped earn Mendes a DGA award, his second.

16. BOOKSMART (dir: Olivia Wilde)

344 points

A Superbad-esque story of two high school seniors (Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein) who set out to spend the night before graduation attending a party with classmates. This movie marks the highest-ranking feature by a debut filmmaker.

15. JOKER (dir: Todd Phillips)

370 points

While Todd Phillips' interpretation of the classic Batman villain certainly did its part to rile up plenty of film critics (some of whom worrying that it might lead to Aurora-style mass shootings), it was polarizing enough to also earn the respect of several film lovers. It surprised everyone by winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, became the highest grossing R-rated movie of all-time, and earned various awards including acting prizes for Joaquin Phoenix and prizes for Hildur Guonadottir's score.

14. THE LIGHTHOUSE (dir: Robert Eggers)

385.5 points

Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe play two lighthouse keepers stuck together in an isolated area of New England. This crazy horror/thriller marks the return of Robert Eggers to the top 20, after his previous feature (The VVitch) appeared at #17 back in the 2016 countdown.

13. MIDSOMMAR (dir: Ari Aster)

394 points

Speaking of A24 movies that are guaranteed to have a cult following for decades to come, Ari Aster manages to get back-to-back years with horror hits. After coming out with his breakthrough Hereditary a year ago (#11 in the countdown), he follows it up with this tale of a group of Americans struggling to deal with a cultish community in northern Sweden. Starring Florence Pugh in what turned out to be a breakout year for her.

12. US (dir: Jordan Peele)

401.5 points

And while we're on the topic of horror movie follow-ups, I don't think there was any as anticipated as this one. From the mind of Jordan Peele (whose debut, Get Out, finished #1 in the 2017 countdown) comes this mystery of a family who must deal with a group of clones that are set out to kill them while they're on vacation. Given its box office return and critical praise, I think it's safe to say that Peele didn't bomb.

11. KNIVES OUT (dir: Rian Johnson)

461.5 points

Daniel Craig plays a detective who must set out to resolve the mystery behind the death of a famous mystery novelist (played by Christopher Plummer). Ana de Armas also stars here in a breakout performance, with a cast that also includes Chris Evans, Michael Shannon, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Toni Collette. 

10. THE SOUVENIR (dir: Joanna Hogg)

525 points

Honor Swinton Byrne stars as a young film student who falls in a Foreign Office worker (Tom Burke) and settles into what would a tumultuous relationship between them. The movie picked up the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

9. THE FAREWELL (dir: Lulu Wang)

540 points

Awkwafina (in a Golden Globe winning performance) stars in this drama about a family who performs a fake wedding in China as a way to say their goodbyes to their matriarch who has just a few weeks to live. It won Best Feature at that year's Independent Spirit Awards.

8. LITTLE WOMEN (dir: Greta Gerwig)

599 points

The latest adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott classic, with Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh leading a star-studded cast that also has Laura Dern, Emma Watson, Chris Cooper, and Meryl Streep. Between this and 2017's Lady Bird (#2 in that year's countdown), I think it's fair to say that, at this point, Gerwig is a solid 2-for-2 in the directorial department.

7. PAIN AND GLORY (dir: Pedro Almodovar)

628 points

Almodovar's most-acclaimed work in years, a semi-autobiographical portrait of an aging queer filmmaker dealing with health problems and recounting various formative incidents in his youth. Featuring Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas in a Cannes-winning performance.

6. PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE (dir: Celine Sciamma)

768 points

Noemie Merlant plays Marianne, a painter assigned with the task of painting the portrait of a soon-to-be married woman (played by Adele Haenel) that develops into a full-fledged romance. The film earned Best Screenplay honors at the Cannes Film Festival and finishes this year's countdown as not only the highest-ranked film by a female director.

5. UNCUT GEMS (dir: Ben Safdie, Josh Safdie)

976.5 points

Adam Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a Jewish-American jewelry merchant in New York City whose gambling addiction and risk-taking comes back to bite him in dangerous ways. Also featuring Julia Fox in a breakout role, Lakeith Stanfield, Kevin Garnett, and Idina Menzel.

4. MARRIAGE STORY (dir: Noah Baumbach)

1206.5 points

Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson play a couple of artists who go through a divorce that gets more and more bitter as the proceedings continue. Laura Dern earned a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her performance in this film as Johansson's lawyer. With six Academy Award nominations, and a massive viewership thanks to it being on Netflix, this was arguably Noah Baumbach's most acclaimed and biggest hit yet.

3. ONCE UPON A TIME IN...HOLLYWOOD (dir: Quentin Tarantino)

1573.5 points

A story of a struggling actor named Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stuntman friend (Brad Pitt) looking to survive the entertainment industry in 1969 Los Angeles at a time when Dalton receives new next-door neighbors in the form of famous director Roman Polanski and his young wife, Sharon Tate (played by Margot Robie). The film was an unquestionable hit in many ways than one. It won numerous awards (including a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Brad Pitt) and was the highest box office debut yet in the illustrious career of Quentin Tarantino.

2. THE IRISHMAN (dir: Martin Scorsese)

1646.5 points

209 minutes? "No problem!" said the critics who were almost unanimous in their praise for the latest from the legendary Martin Scorsese. It won the New York Film Critics Circle award for Best Movie, as well as the National Board of Review award for Best Film and various other accolades. It also helped cement Netflix as a serious player in the movie business, since it was them to decided to provide the $250 million budget to make it in the first place.

1. PARASITE (dir: Bong Joon-ho)

2263.5 points

When this movie surprised a lot of people by winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards back in February (the first ever time that a foreign language film won the award), it marked the end of a incredible journey for what can be described as the  biggest crossover appeal films in many years. It was a journey that kicked off at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2019, where it won the Palme d'Or, and continued into the fall and winner, where it was an international box office smash that helped further increase the prestige of Korean cinema. It's a movie that's currently in the top 30 on the IMDb Top 250 list, and a movie that surpassed The Godfather as the highest-rated feature film on Letterboxd. So, it's fitting that it was also a movie that won over the hearts and minds of critics in a way that this poll has never seen before. It's 2263.5 points is the most ever for a top-placing movie, and it's ratio of number-one spots to appearances is only rivaled by Boyhood in 2014.

You could argue that quite a few people had a better 2019 than Bong Joon-ho. But at least in the world of cinema, it was the year where the Bong Hive unquestionably reigned supreme.

And that's the list! Hope you enjoyed it. 

The Best Films of 2019, According to Critics: Part 1 (#85-31)

                                                                              

First of all, my apologies for the delay. Normally, I try to wrap up this project in early January but due to laziness, I decided to hold off on posting this list to the public until now. With the pandemic in full effect and my entire social life being put on hold due to lockdown, I felt that now was as good of a time as any to stop procrastinating on this.

For this year's countdown, I collected 450 different top-ten lists from film critics (up from 425 last year). Most of the critics whose lists I used were American, although as with every year there were plenty from Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia that I used as well. Since different countries have films released at different dates, some films which already appeared in the 2018 countdown will make re-appearances. Also, several films which hit the festival circuit make appearances, and likely will again once they get their official commercial release. The points system that I used in years past remains. I may do a separate post in the future listing all the critics top-ten lists that I used, but who knows. 

So let's get to it! The year 2019 was certainly a great one for the cinema, and I'd say that (for the most part) a lot of the films at the top of the rankings deserve to be there. It was also an interesting year to see the narrative of cinema continue to change, as it seems like there were more female directors than ever represented at the top, more non-white directors represented at the top, and also more films released directly to streaming services (particularly Netflix) represented at the top. It will definitely be interesting to see what legacy these twelve months will have on the future of this art and this industry.

As we do every year, we begin the rankings at #85...

84(tie). THE WILD PEAR TREE (dir: Nuri Bilge Beylan)
41 points
Due to the different theatrical releases by country as well as some critics getting access to watch a film in a festival a year before other critics can, seeing a movie appear on the countdown for two consecutive years in nothing unusual. However, this is the first time that a movie appeared on the countdown in the exact same position as a year ago (#84) with almost identical points totals (41.5 points in 2018, 41 points in 2019). 

84(tie). THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF EURIDICE GUSMAO (dir: Karim Ainouz)
41 points
A story about two sisters' trials and tribulations living in 1950s Rio de Janeiro. This movie premiered as part of the Un Certain Regard competition at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it won top prize.

83. THE HOTTEST AUGUST (dir: Brett Story)
42 points
A documentary on the current climate and political crises of our time, with various New Yorkers being interviewed on their feelings about it during what was (at that time) the hottest August in recorded history.

81(tie). IN MY ROOM (dir: Ulrich Kohler)

45 points

A German drama about a photographer (Hans Low) who has to deal with a new life as the world's lone male following an unexpected calamity. The movie was first screened at Un Certain Regard at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

81(tie). BIRDS OF PASSAGE (dir: Cristina Gallego, Ciro Guerra)

45 points

From the man that brought you Embrace of the Serpent (#44 in our 2016 poll) comes this tale about the origins of the Colombian drug trade, as told from the perspective of the nation's indigenous population.

80. BORDER (dir: Ali Abbasi)

45.5 points

Speaking of the Un Certain Regard at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, this is the film that won grand prize that year. Not only that, it also ended up getting nominated for an Academy Award for Best Makeup and Styling. This is the second appearance for Abbasi's feature, after appearing at #78 in our 2018 poll.

77(tie). OUR TIME (dir: Carlos Reygadas)

46 points

A story about a dysfunctional relationship, with all the affairs and uncontrollable jealousy that comes with it. This film is the latest from Mexican auteur Carlos Reygadas, who also stars in the movie alongside his real-life partner, Natalia Lopez.

77(tie). DOCTOR SLEEP (dir: Mike Flanagan)

46 points

Ewan McGregor stars as Dan Torrence, the son of The Shining's Jack Torrence, who continues to deal with the fallout of the events that occurred at the Overlook Hotel many years ago. While not much anticipated upon release, this sequel to the Stephen King novel (most famously adapted to screen by Stanley Kubrick in 1980) managed to develop a small but passionate fanbase among some circles of critics since its release.

77(tie). 3 FACES (dir: Jafar Panahi)

46 points

The much-lauded Iranian director Jafar Panahi (whose films have already appeared on our countdown in three separate occasions) stars as himself alongside acclaimed actress Benhaz Jafari in this road movie where they try to find a young girl who sent a video to Jafari asking to free her from her conservative family. The film was produced despite the Iranian government still not allowing Panahi to make films. It won Best Screenplay at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

76. DARK WATERS (dir: Todd Haynes)

46.5 points

A dramatic re-telling of the true story of Robert Bilott, the former corporate lawyer turned activist who set out to prove that DuPont was purposefully poisoning the waters of towns, their consumers, as well as their workers with the chemicals in their products.

75. GIVE ME LIBERTY (dir: Kirill Mikhanovsky)

48.5 points

Featuring a largely amateur cast, this movie tells the story of a chaotic day in the life of a transportation worker for the disabled (played by Chris Galust). A triumph of independent filmmaking, the movie ended up nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards, winning the John Cassevetes Award for best feature made under $500,000.

74. THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON (dir: Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz)

49.5 points

A heartwarming story about the budding friendship between two outlaws: Tyler, who is on the run from an arson charge, and Zak, a patient with Down Syndrome who escaped from his state-run facility in order to become a professional wrestler. Shia LaBeouf and Zack Gottsagen play the lead roles.

71(tie). DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE (dir: S. Craig Zahler)

52 points

Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn star as two disgraced police officers who turn to crime in order to provide for their families following getting sacked due to controversial circumstances. This is Zahler's second straight feature to make the countdown, after Brawl in Cell Block 99 appeared at #69 in the 2017 countdown.

71(tie). BLACK MOTHER (dir: Khalik Allah)

52 points

An experimental documentary in which the photographer Khalik Allah (who shot, directed, and edited this picture) paints a complex and emotional portrait of Jamaica and its people.

71(tie). AMAZING GRACE (dir: Sydney Pollack)

52 points

The long-awaited documentary about the singer Aretha Franklin singing gospel songs at L.A.'s New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in 1972. This film made its wide release following the passing of both Franklin as well as its director, Sydney Pollack.

70. HEIMAT IS A SPACE AND TIME (dir: Thomas Heise)

54 points

Listed at a running time of over 210 minute, this expansive documentary aims to explore the history of what happened to director Thomas Heise's family during the course of the chaotic 20th Century.

68(tie). LIBERTE (dir: Albert Serra)

56 points

Set in the woods of Germany years before the French Revolution, this shocking film attempts to show a radical group of proto-libertarians as they engage in their wildest and darkest sexual desires. 

68(tie). JUST DON'T THINK I'll SCREAM (dir: Frank Beauvais)

56 points

A personal essay documentary in which the director details his experience in Paris after spending years living in solitude in the French countryside.

67. ROLLING THUDER REVUE: A BOB DYLAN STORY BY MARTIN SCORSESE (dir: Martin Scorsese)

59 points

The year 2019 was a big one for legendary American filmmaker Martin Scorsese, as well as his partnership with Netflix, with this documentary being an example of that. Released a few months before The Irishman, this film recounts Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue tour, as he spent months in the late '70s traveling the United States and doing concerts in small, intimate settings. This is Scorsese's second documentary about Bob Dylan, with his first being 2005's No Direction Home. 

66. I DON'T CARE IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS (dir: Radu Jude)

61 points

A dark satire in the vein of The Act of Killing, in which there's an attempt to recount the Romanian army's ethnic cleansing of Jews and Roma on the Eastern Front during World War II.

65. IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (dir: Barry Jenkins)

63 points

Although there was no Best Picture nomination for Barry Jenkins' follow-up to Moonlight, there was continued appreciation of his James Baldwin adaptation from the various European and Australian critics who ended up catching it for the first time in 2019. The film previously appeared at #7 in our 2018 countdown.

64. BAIT (dir: Mark Jenkin)

63.5 points

A story of the tensions between the local townspeople at an English fishing village and the tourists that visit annually. 

63. AMERICAN FACTORY (dir: Steven Bognar, Julia Reichart)

65.5 points

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, it's the story of the opening of the new Fuyao factory near Dayton, Ohio and the various issues experienced by its workers and managers during the first few years. This movie is one of the first features produced by Barack and Michelle Obama's Higher Ground Productions in their newly minted partnership with Netflix.

62. LES MISERABLES (dir: Ladj Ly)

68.5 points

Set within the commune of Montlfermeil in France, the drama follows the lives of local policemen and the community of mostly black and brown immigrant families they monitor. The film was director Ladj Ly's first feature, and it not only got a spot on the main competition of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, it also earned the Jury Prize. It also won the Cesar Award for Best Feature, and immediately earned comparisons to such classic as La Haine and Do the Right Thing. Not bad for a debut, I must say.

61. PETERLOO (dir: Mike Leigh)

69.5 points

Mike Leigh's telling of the 1819 Peterloo Massacre, in which several British forces charged onto a peaceful pro-democracy rally in Manchester, England and killed several onlookers. This is Mike Leigh's first appearance on the countdown since Mr. Turner (#19 in the 2014 countdown)

60. READY OR NOT (dir: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett)

70 points

Samara Weaving stars in her breakout role as the newly married wife of a tabletop game heir who must stay alive for twelve hours and avoid being killed by her new, rich in-laws.

59. THE BEACH BUM (dir: Harmony Korine)

73 points

Director Harmony Korine's long-anticipated follow-up to Spring Breakers (#21 on the 2013 countdown) in which he continues to use South Florida as his setting. This time, he tells the story of cult poet Moondog (Matthew McConaughey in a role seemingly tailor-made for him) and his wild adventures. Also starring Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, Snoop Dogg, and Zac Efron, among others.

58. THE TWO POPES (dir: Fernando Meirelles)

73.5 points

Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce play the popes Benedict XVI and Francis, in a story about their relationship during the period between Benedict XVI's announcement as Pope and his resignation amid scandal in 2013.

56(tie). I LOST MY BODY (dir: Jeremy Clapin)

75 points

A French animated feature in which a hand attempts to reconnect with the body it was cut off from. The film was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards

56(tie). BACURAU (dir: Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendoca Filho)

75 points

One of the many standouts at a rather exceptional 2019 Cannes Film Festival, this Brazilian drama tells the story of a village beset upon a group of dangerous American mercenaries hunting for sport. Expect this to appear again in the 2020 countdown once it picks up a theatrical release in the states.

55. DIANE (dir: Kent Jones)

76.5 points

A few years after making the documentary Hitchcock/Truffaut, critic turned filmmaker Kent Jones directs his first drama about the turbulent life of a middle-aged Massachusetts woman (played by Mary Kay Place in an awards-winning performance).

54. BEANPOLE (dir: Kantemir Balagov)

78 points

Winner of the Best Director award at Cannes' Un Certain Regard, a harrowing story about two female hospital workers dealing with life in the Soviet Union following the Second World War. Like with Bacurau, I expect to see this movie make a re-appearance on next years lists as it makes its release in North America.

53. CLIMAX (dir: Gaspar Noe)

86.5 points

A group of French dancers finish rehearsing their routine and decide to have a party. This leads to essentially a two-hour downward spiral to hell, with various chaos and horror abound.

49(tie). TOY STORY 4 (dir: Josh Cooley)

89 points

While it did not receive the same amount of top 10 appearances as the three previous entries of the franchise did (Toy Story 3, by comparison, finished #4 in the 2010 countdown), this newest Toy Story installment still racked up a bunch of praise from the critics as well as a Best Animated Feature victory at the Oscars to boot. Pretty impressive given how most movie number-fours are regarded as terrible and cheap cash-grabs among their fanbase.

49(tie). MARTIN EDEN (dir: Pietro Marcello)

89 points

An Italian re-telling of the book by Jack London, which has since earned plenty of praise from the critics who viewed it in fall's festival circuit.

49(tie). JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM (dir: Chad Stahelski)

89 points

Keanu Reeves' John Wick keeps on John Wicking, murdering every assassin that he can get his hands on. The franchise is now a perfect 3-for-3 in countdown appearances, after placing #70 in 2014 and #49 in 2017.

49(tie). ASAKO I & II (dir: Rysuke Hamaguchi)

89 points

A woman (played by Erika Karata) falls in love with a man (played by Masahiro Higashide) on first sight, yet disappears suddenly from her life. Two years later, she meets a man (also played by Higashide) with the same facial features. As you would expect, that kind of plotline leads to some messy conclusions in the end.

48. I WAS AT HOME, BUT (dir: Angela Schanelec)

91 points

Maren Eggert played Astrid, a middle-aged mother of two, as she deals with her life following the death of her husband. The film won Schanelec the award for Best Director at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival.

46(tie). THE FAVOURITE (dir: Yorgos Lanthimos)

92.5 points

The 2018 countdown's #3 film makes a re-appearance, with newer critics getting a taste of the sparkling palace conflicts and the award-winning performance of Olivia Coleman as England's Queen Anne.

46(tie). HONEY BOY (dir: Alma Har'el)

92.5 points

Shia LaBeouf makes his second appearance on the countdown, this time starring in a drama in which he wrote the screenplay and plays the role of a man based on his father. Also starring FKA twigs and Lucas Hedges.

45. FOR SAMA (dir: Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts)

98.5 points

A documentary about the Syrian Civil War through the eyes of Waad Al-Kateab, a resident of Aleppo during the uprising years. This film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

44. THE IMAGE BOOK (dir: Jean-Luc Godard)

102 points

Leave it to the 89-year old Godard to turn out another beloved film essay adored by the critics. This time, it's a 90 minute feature which examines various different concepts, from the film world's portrayal of Muslims to film's failures in relation to capturing The Holocaust. It previously appeared at #51 in our 2018 countdown.

43. SYNONYMS (dir: Nadav Lapid)

115 points

Winner of the Golden Bear at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival, this Parisian-set drama tells the story of an Israeli ex-pat and his new life living in the city and being friends with a married couple of artists. 

42. ROCKETMAN (dir: Dexter Fletcher)

121 points

A musical retelling of the life of famous English musician Elton John, starring Taron Egerton. This was Paramount's attempt to cash on the success of 2018's Bohemian Rhapsody, and although it did not make as much money or win as many Oscars as the Freddie Mercury biopic, it still made bank for Paramount while collecting more critical praise and help get Egerton some awards (including the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy).

41. MONOS (dir: Alejandro Landes)

128.5 points

An expansive drama on the Colombian civil war as told from the perspective of a group of teenage soldiers who kidnap an American doctor (played by Julianne Nicholson) and take her hostage.

40. AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL (dir: Hu Bo)

130.5 points

I've already said enough about the movie last year, when it placed #48 on the countdown. I'll just add that it remains a shame that this is the last thing that we'll ever see from Hu Bo, a life tragically cut short.

39. THE NIGHTINGALE (dir: Jennifer Kent)

141.5 points

The director of The Babadook (#22 in the 2014 countdown) tells the story of the early days of colonial Australia with all the violence, rape, and struggles that came with it. Aisling Franciosi stars as Clare, an Irish convict who travels across the Tasmanian wilderness with the help of an aboriginal man (played by Baykali Ganambarr) in order to enact revenge on the British officer who raped her and murdered her husband.

38. UNDER THE SILVER LAKE (dir: David Robert Mitchell)

142.5 points

Despite the success of his previous film, It Follows (#23 in the 2015 countdown), A24 decided to treat this new movie of his (a noirish thriller starring Andrew Garfield) with the utmost contempt, first deciding to push back its release by a year and then finally letting American audiences see it in theaters with as little publicity as possible. And that's a shame, because there's a lot in this movie that will earn it a cult following for decades to come.

37. LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (dir: Bi Gan)

146.5 points

Previously #69 in the 2018 countdown. A puzzling movie that features one of the most extraordinary one-take sequences put out in recent memory.

36. DOLEMITE IS MY NAME (dir: Craig Brewer)

153 points

A story of the life of Rudy Ray Moore, famous comedian turned actor of several beloved blacksploitation movies. It's a film so good, it brought Eddie Murphy's acting talents back into the spotlight and earned him his best reviews in over a decade.

34(tie). HONEYLAND (dir: Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov)

154 points

A documentary about a small family of beekeepers living in the mountains of North Macedonia. It was not only nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Award, it even got the Oscar nomination for Best International Feature as well (a rarity for a documentary).

34(tie). LA FLOR (dir: Mariano Llinas)

154 points

Llinas' 808 minute epic (the longest movie in Argentinian history) appears on the countdown for the second straight year, after appearing at #81 in the 2018 countdown.

33. HER SMELL (dir: Alex Ross Perry)

163 points

The collaboration between director Alex Ross Perry and actress Elisabeth Moss continues to produce magic. This time, Moss portrays a world-famous rock musician dealing with drug addiction and other conflicts which are leading to her downfall.

32. FORD VS. FERRARI (dir: James Mangold)

164 points

Matt Damon and Christian Bale play members of a Ford autoracing team looking to defeat the legendary machines of Ferrari in a Formula 1 battle. The movie was nominated for several Oscars, and is the second-straight movie by Mangold to appear on the countdown (following Logan, which appeared at #21 back in the 2017 countdown).

31. A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD (dir: Marielle Heller)

169.5 points

Matthew Rhys stars Tom Junod, an Empire writer who writes a cover story on childrens television entertainer Mister Rodgers (played by Tom Hanks). This marks the second straight year with a Heller movie on the countdown (following last year's Can You Ever Forgive Me? appearing at #21) and third straight overall (2015's The Diary of a Teenage Girls appeared at #20 at that year's countdown).

And that wraps up Part 1. Be sure to check out Part 2 when it appears tomorrow. Peace out!

The Best Films of 2018, According to Critics: Part 2 (#30-#1)

First Reformed, dir. Paul Schrader

Alright, here we go! You all get the gist by now. Here's a link to Part 1 for all the rules behind the making of the list, as well as the movies that placed #31-#85. Now, time to find out what placed in the top 30. How many of them came from familiar faces? How many of them came from new comers? Let's find out...

30. BLINDSPOTTING (dir: Carlos Lopez Estrada)
228 points
A young black man (Daveed Diggs) is released from prison and goes back to his native Oakland while on parole for a year. Now working as a moving company driver with his childhood friend, a white man named Miles (Rafael Casal, who also co-wrote this), he must now live his life on the final days of parole while also being the witness to a police officer murdering an unarmed black man. It's a movie that explores not just police brutality, but race relations, gentrification, and privilege.

29. MINDING THE GAP (dir: Bing Liu)
248.5 points
A movie following around the lives of three young men from different racial and class backgrounds. It places this poll as 2018's highest-scoring documentary, in what was a year filled with plenty of solid documentaries (see: all the documentaries mentioned in part one).

28. THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS (dir: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen)
249 points
A series of short stories set in the American Wild West during the days of western expansion and American exceptionalism. Featuring a star-studded cast that includes James Franco, Zoe Kazan, Liam Neeson, and Tom Waitts (among others), this project by the Coen brothers was originally made to be a Netflix limited series, before plans got switched up and it became a single movie.

27. SUPPORT THE GIRLS (dir: Andrew Bujalski)
252 points
Regina Hall stars as Lisa, the manager of a Hooters-esque family restaurant, who has to go through a series of challenges over the course of a single day. Haley Lu Richardson and Shayna McHayle also star. The film marks the second time in six years a Bujalski movie makes the top thirty, following Computer Chess placing #23 in the 2013 countdown.

26. MANDY (dir: Panos Cosmatos)
275.5 points
Imagine John Wick but mix it with the giallo horror franchise and pretentious '80s neon-lighting. That's what you get in this stylish, chaotic revenge thriller that stars Nicolas Cage and Andrea Riseborough as a married couple trying to survive a cult of murderers.

25. FIRST MAN (dir: Damien Chazelle)
283 points
After the incredible success that was La La Land (hundreds of millions in the box office, 6 Oscars, #3 in the 2016 countdown), director Damien Chazelle (who also was himself one of those who took 6 of La La Land's Oscar nominations) decided to explore the life of Neil Armstrong during his time as astronaut at NASA. Starring Ryan Gosling, the movie focuses not just on the struggles at NASA that led him to become the first man to walk on the moon, but also the politics of the age and Armstrong's struggles at home with his wife, Janet (Claire Foy), and his two young boys.

24. PADDINGTON 2 (dir: Paul King)
284 points
A film so beloved by critics it officially became the most popular movie on Rotten Tomatoes to earn a 100% rating (at 216 critics and counting), this sequel to the 2015 original (which didn't even make that year's countdown) one again follows the adventures of the Ben Wheatley-voiced bear living in the house of a delightful British family. We see his various picaresque adventures attempting to get a job, followed by his attempt to clear his never after getting framed for robbery by an evil actor (played by Hugh Grant). It's got charm, delightful physical comedy, and even references to The Grand Budapest Hotel.

23. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND (dir: Orson Welles)
285 points
When the legendary actor and filmmaker Orson Welles passed away in 1985, he left behind him a series of movie projects left unfinished due to various circumstances, the most common of which being financial and copyright issues. One of those was a project called The Other Side of the Wind, which was a collaboration between himself and life partner Oja Kodar and was filmed on-and-off between 1970 and 1976 but never completed. However, various people did spend the following decades after his death trying to make his finished film a reality, including Kodar, director Peter Bogdanovich, and producer Filip Jan Rzymka and director Frank Marshall, and it wasn't until recently that they were finally able to get the necessary footage, funding, and distribution deal from Netflix to get aversion of the movie that's as close to Welles' vision as possible. That version premiered at last during the fall, and it appears to be a satirical and poignant examination of Hollywood in the 1970's, as well as auterism and the sexual politics of that age. Starring John Huston (himself a legendary deceased director) as a stand-in for many people (including Welles himself), as well as Bogdanovich, Kodar, Susan Strasberg and many notable guest appearances.

22. CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? (dir: Marielle Heller)
291.5 points
Based on the novel of the same name, it stars Melissa McCarthy as a struggling writer named Lee Israel, who decides to create fake letters from famous authors in order to make money. It also features a performance by Richard E. Grant that has been a buzz this awards season, and it makes it the second straight time a Marielle Heller film makes it into a year-end top twenty-five (after The Diary of a Teenage Girl appeared at #20 in the 2015 countdown).

21. ZAMA (dir: Lucrecia Martel)
304.5 points
After what was essentially a decade-long absence in filmmaking, the esteemed Argentinian Lucrecia Martel made a startling comeback with this adaptation of the famous novel by Antonio di Benedetto. It focuses on the life of Don Diego de Zama (played by Daniel Gimenez Cacho) as he deals with life as a judicial official of the Spanish empire in the days of colonial South America, with all the tribulations and inter-cultural conflict that occurred. The film has already appeared in the 2017 countdown (at #45) and continued to make impressions on more critics as it finally became commercially released worldwide.

20. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT (dir: Christopher McQuarrie)
329 points
The high-octane action series starring Tom Cruise as a secret IMF agent continues to deliver, with more and more critics seeming to appreciate as the franchise matures. Now, in its sixth installment, it not only makes its first-appearance in the year-end countdown, it gets a coveted top 20 spot to boot. Should be interesting to see what kind of amazing set pieces the future movies in the series will do to top that.

19. WIDOWS (dir: Steve McQueen)
352 points
After making 2013's most-acclaimed movie (12 Years a Slave, ranked #1 in that year's countdown) and even earning a Best Picture victory at the Academy Awards, the director Steve McQueen finally pulled enough sway to get his first major Hollywood release made. With a script co-written by Gillian Flynn (who wrote Gone Girl, #9 in the 2014 countdown) it features a trio of bank-robber widows (Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki) attempting a big heist of their own in order to settle debts and maintain financial stability in their new life. Set in Chicago, it also features a major secondary story about an alderman race that happens in the city, which stars Colin Farrell and Brian Tyree Henry.

18. COLD WAR (dir: Pawel Pawlikowski)
396 points
Joanna Kulig and Tomasz Kot star in this period drama about a relationship between artists that develops in Cold War-era Poland. It marks the first feature from Pawel Pawlikowski since his Oscar-winning Ida (#7 in the 2014 countdown). It won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and is set to become a frontrunner for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars.

17. SORRY TO BOTHER YOU (dir: Boots Riley)
397.5 points
Lakeith Stanfield stars in this satire on capitalism, about a black man living in Oakland who joins a telemarketing agency in order to make money and finds a talent in the position after switching to his "white voice" in order to make calls. It's also got Armie Hammer as an immoral capitalist at the head of his telemarketing agency, Tessa Thompson as Stanfield's artist girlfriend, Steven Yeun as the telemarketing agency's radical laborer trying to star a worker's strike, and even David Cross and Patton Oswalt doing the "white voices" (among others).

16. SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDERVERSE (dir: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman)
411 points
Just when you thought that bringing in Tom Holland as the new Spidey would regenerate the Spider-Man film franchise following a dismal duo of movies starring Andrew Garfield, Sony and the producers duo of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller go on and make a dazzling movie for the comic book character that's also the highest-ranked animated film in this year's countdown, and without the slightest use of Marvel Studios to make it good! In it, a New York teen named Miles Morales gets bitten by the same radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker, and learns to become a Spider-Man for a new generation as a series of other Peter Parkers and spider-people suddenly travel inter-dimensionally to his universe for reasons that are explained as the movie goes on. It features dazzling 3D animation, as well as homages to not just previous Sony Spider-Man movies, but also to the Spider-Man comics history.

15. THE RIDER (dir: Chloe Zhao)
412 points
A film following the life of an ex-rodeo rider (Brady Jandreau) struggling with poverty and the severe injuries that he received while competing in the past. This film of a quintessential example of a small indy that gains traction through word-of-mouth, dating back to its festival circuit days in 2017 where it got enough buzz to appear in last year's countdown at #72 and now again in 2018's top 15.

14. ANNIHILATION (dir: Alex Garland)
450 points
Natalie Portman stars as a biology professor who travels into an alien world with a team that also includes such stars as Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, and Gina Rodriguez. It's the second appearance for a Portman-led movie on this countdown (following Vox Lux at #85), the second appearance in the year's top 20 for a movie starring Thompson (following Sorry to Bother You) and the second straight top-15 appearance for an Alex Garland (following Ex-Machina's #26 position in 2015).

13. LEAVE NO TRACE (dir: Debra Granik)
452 points
From the director of Winter's Bone (#2 in the 2010 countdown) comes this drama about a veteran sufferring from PTSD (Ben Foster) who decides to leave civilization behind and live in the woods of the Pacific Northwest with his teenage daughter (Thomasin McKenzie).

12. A STAR IS BORN (dir: Bradley Cooper)
465 points
Coming in with a bunch of hype and a long history of three previous versions of the same movie to live up to, Bradley Cooper's directorial debut managed to deliver with the critics, to the point where it's also considered one of the biggest contenders for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. In it, Cooper plays Jackson Maine, a famous country singer who discovers another singer (played by Lady Gaga) at a drag show, woos her into a relationship, and then helps spark her own major career as a pop star while he battles alcoholism and major family strife with his brother (Sam Elliott). It has been nominated at almost every major awards show, from the Golden Globes to the SAG Awards and the PGA Awards.

11. HEREDITARY (dir: Ari Aster)
471.5 points
A typical family-conflict drama is given the horror movie treatment, with supernatural and cultish elements thrown into the mix. Toni Collette plays a miniature artist who has to deal with a bunch of issues, including the strange death of her mother, major tensions with her son (Alex Wolff) after he accidentally kills her daughter (Milly Shapiro) in a car-accident, and strange ghost presences hanging out in her home. Gabriel Byrne and Ann Dowd also star.

10. SHOPLIFTERS (dir: Hirokazu Kore-eda)
524.5 points
We kick off this year's top 10 with this Japanese drama about a group of poverty-stricken individuals that develop a intimate relationship bordering on the familial while living together in the same shack. This film managed to win the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and it's the highest-placed movie on the year-end countdown to have also won a Palme since Blue is the Warmest Color placed at #9 in the 2013 countdown.

9. YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE (dir: Lynne Ramsay)
525.5 points
And now from a movie which wowed the 2018 Cannes Festival, to a movie which wowed at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival (even picking up that year's awards for Best Screenplay and Best Actor), it's Joaquin Phoenix playing a traumatized man working to stop a New York politician's daughter from becoming trapped in a child sex-trafficking ring. It's as creepy as you'd expect from the director of We Need to Talk About Kevin (#19 in the 2011 countdown).

8. BLACKKKLANSMAN (dir: Spike Lee)
546.5 points
Spike Lee's biggest commercial and critical success in over a decade, based on the true story of the first ever police detective in Colorado Springs and his attempt to take down the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970's. With performances by John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, and Topher Grace, it manages to discuss a critical period in U.S. history while also relaying it to the present. It won the Grand Prix at the year's Cannes Film Festival, and has since gone on to become an awards season darling.

7. IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (dir: Barry Jenkins)
583 points
Like Steve McQueen, director Barry Jenkin's last movie (Moonlight) was also a triumph in many ways. It ran away with the #1 spot in the 2016 countdown, and surprised everyone by beating favorite La La Land to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. So how does he follow-up on that? By adapting a James Baldwin story of course, and what a project that turned out to be. With dazzling performances (led by Regina King, who will probably win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for it), an beautifully intimate cinematography, and a script that most have approved of, If Beale Street Could Talk managed to deliver in more ways than one, and solidified Jenkins as anything but a one-hit wonder. Expect to see many more great films from him in the future.

6. BLACK PANTHER (dir: Ryan Coogler)
596.5 points
The year's highest-ranking superhero movie, as well as the highest ranked superhero movie ever since this countdown was established a few years back. Based on the Marvel comic, it follows the life of a prince from the fictional African nation of Wakanda named T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), his attempt to establish himself as Wakanda's leader following his dad's death, and the battle he wages against a rebel named Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). This film may not be finishing this year's countdown as the year's most critically-acclaimed, but it still did really well among critics to the point where Rotten Tomatoes has it as the highest rated overall on its website. It was also THE big movie phenomenon of 2018, generating massive media coverage and massive bucks to boot (currently, it's the third highest-grossing movie in U.S. history, behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avatar). It's also the third-straight Ryan Coogler movie to make a top-20 appearance on the countdown, following Fruitvale Station (#18 in 2013) and Creed (#14 in 2015).

5. EIGHTH GRADE (dir: Bo Burnham)
632.5 points
An examination of a young thirteen year-old American girl's life in the late 2010's (with Elsie Fisher in the lead role) as she deals with the end of middle school and the start of her journey into high school. It's the highest-placed movie in 2018 among a first-time film director.

4. BURNING (dir: Lee Chang-dong)
782 points
A Korean drama about a young man (Yoo Ah-in) who develops a relationship with a former classmate (Jeon Jong-seo) only to have her leave on a trip to Africa and come back in the arms of a Korean-American (played by Steven Yeun, the second time he's appearing in the year's top 20). It's a story that gets stranger and more mysterious as it goes on, with illusions to William Faulkner and Alfred Hitchcock and themes that include class conflict and masculinity. Overall, it's no surprise that such a film placed this high. At the time it was released at the Cannes Film Festival back in May, it was so loved by critics that it earned the highest score ever in Screen Daily's famous jury grid.

3. THE FAVOURITE (dir: Yorgos Lanthimos)
848 points
Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos' recent American projects continues to be a smash, with this latest from him appearing to be his most beloved effort yet. Based on real events that took placed in England during the 17th Century, it stars Olivia Colman as Anne, Queen of Great Britain, who gets involved in a love trial with Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough (played by Rachel Weisz) and Abigail Hill, Sarah's down-on-her-luck cousin (played by Emma Stone) who joins the palace as a maid. While this happens, a war between Britain and France breaks out, with the politics of that war getting involved in the story as well.

2. FIRST REFORMED (dir: Paul Schrader)
1119.5 points
A minister of First Reformed in upstate New York (played by Ethan Hawke) deals with many conflicts that come to undermine his faith, including climate change, the greediness of his church official superiors and his battle with stomach cancer. Amanda Seyfried and Cedric the Entertainer are among some of the other prominent members of the cast. The film has received numerous awards, many of them for Schrader's screenplay and for Hawke's acting.

And the movie which placed at the top of 2018's countdown is...

1. ROMA (dir: Alfonso Cuaron)
1530 points
In 2013, Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron (and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki) wowed audiences worldwide with the IMAX 3D thriller Gravity, particularly with its masterful tracking shots of Sandra Bullock floating across a wrecked space station. It earned Cuaron an Oscar for Best Directing, and was a beloved hit by critics, finishing #2 in the 2013 countdown in a relatively close battle with #1 finisher 12 Years a Slave. So how did Cuaron manage to follow-up? By applying his tracking shots and directorial prowess into a more personal setting, that of the Roma neighborhood in Mexico City set during the period that was his childhood. 

Starring newcomer Yalitza Aparicio, the film takes an Upstairs, Downstairs look into an upper middle class household as as Aparicio's maid character deals with her own turmoil as the family which employs her goes through a messy divorce between the husband and wife. From the moment it premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it earned the coveted Golden Lion for Best Film, critics and audiences grew to appreciate its rich setting, its terrific acting, and even Cuaron's excellent first foray into making a film with himself as the cinematographer. It ends 2018 as the movie with the most #1 spots, not to mention the only movie to appear in over 40% of the polls used to make this countdown. Will Oscar gold be next for it? Time will tell, but in the meantime I bet it feels good for Cuaron to know that, at least this time, there was no Steve McQueen (or anyone else from that matter) to stop a film of his from being ranked as the year's most critically acclaimed.


Congrats to all the filmmakers whose films were as acclaimed to appear on this year's top 30. I shall wrap this series of articles up at a later time with a reveal of the movie that just barely missed out on the top 85, as well as the critics lists I actually used to compile this countdown. So stay tuned!

The Best Films of 2018, According to Critics: Part 1 (#85-#31)

    The year's highest-grossing movie worldwide, Avengers: Infinity War, also managed to be one of critics' most beloved.


The year 2018 brought about a lot of changes in the movie business. The #MeToo movement continued to make headway, with some more serial creeps getting outed while organizations such as Time's Up getting launched under the goal of protecting and helping out victims of sexual harassment and abuse inside Hollywood. Streaming services like Netflix continued to stake a claim in the moviemaking business, not just by releasing more movies than they've ever had before, but also by actually getting legitimate hits out of them (such as Bird Box) and by convincing more respected filmmakers (like Alfonso Cuaron, Tamara Jenkins, and the Coen brothers) to sign on and have their projects debut exclusively on their service. It seems we aren't now that far away from a Best Picture winner getting it despite premiering on-demand as opposed to exclusively in a theater (could it even be as soon as this February with Roma?).

The youth and the first-timers also continued to make names for themselves with confident, applauded debuts. This includes not just bright young actors creating breakout performances (like Madeline's Madeline's Helena Howard), but also established entertainers known for other types of work (such as comedian Bo Burnham, musician Boots Riley, and actor Bradley Cooper) following the footsteps of Jordan Peele (Get Out) and Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) from a year prior with notable first-time directorial efforts. That said, the veterans and the establishment types still made bold artistic statements of their own, like Spike Lee with BlackKklansman and Paul Schrader with First Reformed. Some masters of the medium even managed to do this beyond the grave, such as the great Orson Welles and Sydney Pollack, who came out with a new movie (The Other Side of the Wind and Amazing Grace respectively) decades after their deaths.

Since 2013, this website has made it a mission to chronicle what were the motion pictures those whose job it was to watch and evaluate them believed were the cream of the crop. The first reason for this is for the purposes of preservation: to document what these people thought "great cinema" was at the period of time in which these new features premiered at once. The second reason is just for fun, since this is a blog written by a glazomaniac who likes to create and collect surveys and polls about a particular hobby of his (film). For the year 2018, this task was attempted once again. And now, after hours of data entry and Google searching, this website is proud to present the final results with yet another installment of the year-end top 85.

Before we kick off the countdown, here's a brief breakdown of how it was created. It's similar to how past years' countdowns were created, but it still bears repeating:

a) In total, 425 "top-10" lists were used (only one less than the amount used in 2017's list). I put "top 10" in quotes because I occasionally cheated and include some top 11-15 in the process as well, provided that those top 11-15 lists were unranked. 

b) Most of these lists were assembled by American critics and publications. However, I did include a bunch of lists from critics out of Canada, Puerto Rico, the UK, Ireland, Poland, Italy, Spain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Iran, Peru, Brazil, and Russia (to name a few). So if you see a movie placed high that came out in 2017, it's likely because it made the list among critics whose countries couldn't see them until 2018 (like Phantom Thread). 

c) Some of the critics lists I picked out weren't even from critics. I also included some top tens from that Indiewire article of acclaimed directors' favorite films, and even Barack Obama's top fifteen.

d) Staff lists counted as one person, and if a website had individual breakdowns of top-tens than I resorted to using each individual list rather than the staff list. 

e) Points breakdown was similar to past years. For the standard 1-10 list, I give ten points to the #1 film, nine points to the #2 movie, and so on and so forth until #10 gets just a point. For the lists which are unranked or arranged alphabetically, I give each movie 5.5 points (because (10+9+8+...+1)/10=5.5). Some lists included had twelve movies (for some reason), and for those I gave each movie roughly 4.5 points. For the lists that have a #1 spot listed and the other nine unranked, I give ten points to the #1 movie and 5 points to each of the other nine. If they had the #1 and #2 listed, but the other ten unranked, then I gave the #1 movie 10 points, the #2 movies 9 points, and the rest of the top ten 4.5 points.

Does all that make sense? Good! So let's get started, with perhaps one of the more controversial entries into the top 85 out of the bunch:

85. VOX LUX (dir: Brady Corbet)
41 points
Few films were as polarizing as this Natalie Portman-starring feature about a woman's experience becoming a pop star after surviving a school shooting in high school. Some praised its brashness and storytelling choices, while others derided it with claims of pretentiousness and tone-deafness. That said, it's a movie that's bound to stir up discussion, which is definitely what you want to see from any kind of acclaimed movie. 

84. THE WILD PEAR TREE (dir: Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
41.5 points
The first film directed by Ceylan since wowing Cannes jurors with Winter Sleep (ranked #25 on the 2014 countdown) and getting a Palme d'Or out of it. It's got Aydin Dogu Demirkol starring as an aspiring writer who returns to the Turkish village in which he grew up following college and encounters new experiences while also waiting to get his first novel published. This movie isn't officially premiering in the U.S. until January, so don't be surprised if it pops up again at the top 85 countdown next year.

83. DOGMAN (dir: Matteo Garrone)
42 points
An intense, violent movie about a dog groomer trying to escape the dog-eat-dog world (see, the title has multiple meanings!) of his Italian seaside town. 

81(tie). LA FLOR (dir: Mariano Llinas)
43 points
Six different stories, each of different genres and with the first four stopping in media res. Clocking in at 13 hours and 28 minutes, with five intermissions in between, this has officially been rewarded the title of longest movie in Argentine cinematic history, as well as one of the longest cinematic releases ever. And you thought it was impressive that Twin Peaks: The Return placed high in last year's top 85? Betcha Lynch never suggested an audience sit in a theater to watch the whole thing in one day like Llinas did! 

81(tie). BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE (dir: Drew Goddard)
43 points
A star-studded cast that features Chris Hemsworth, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm and Jeff Bridges playing different characters spending the night at Lake Tahoe's El Royale, getting themselves in a whole heep of trouble. From the director of The Cabin in the Woods (#26 in the 2012 countdown).

80. TULLY (dir: Jason Reitman)
44 points
Yeah, so...Jason Reitman and Charlize Theron? Great duo to team up and make a good movie together. Young Adult (#37 in the 2011 countdown) showed this first, and now this movie about a middle aged mom going through a midlife crisis as her husband (Ron Livingston) hires a hip, young woman (MacKenzie Davis) to help her out with the housework following another pregnancy. 

78(tie). CAPERNAUM (dir: Nadine Labaki)
45 points
A juvenile delinquent (played by Zain Al Rafeea) sues his parents for neglect and giving birth to him while living a tough life on the streets in Lebanon.

78(tie). BORDER (dir: Ali Abbasi)
45 points
In this mix of horror and comedy, Eva Melander plays Tina, a border guard with the innate ability to smell human emotions in order to catch people. She meets a man (Eero Milonoff) with a smell she cannot detect, and things begin to spiral down from there.

74(tie). THE SHAPE OF WATER (dir: Guillermo Del Toro)
46 points
When The Shape of Water won Best Picture in March, it was hard to believe at first given the description. A romantic story about a mute woman falling in love with a fish monster? Yet with big doses of empathy in the script, some solid acting, amazing production design, and even some love letters to the movies from Hollywood's golden age, Spanish director Guillermo Del Toro was actually able to wow enough members of the Academy to make that happen. It even managed to wow many non-American critics who had only seen it for the first time in 2018, hence it's placement on this countdown after appearing at #7 in the 2017 countdown.

74(tie). LOVELESS (dir: Andrey Zvyagintsev)
46 points
Premiering at Cannes in 2017 (and even winning the Jury Prize that year), this first film from Zvyagintsev since Leviathan (#28 in the 2014 countdown) tells a captivating story of a couple going through a tumultuous divorce, throwing chaos in the lives of their family members. It was nominated at the Oscars last year for Best Foreign Language Film.

74(tie). GAME NIGHT (dir: John Francis Daley, Jonathan M. Goldstein)
46 points
In a year completely lacking for mainstream American comedies, Game Night (a movie about a group of couples getting into a play-acting game that turns out to be more real than they imagined) stood out as one of the few bright spots. Hopefully more movies in the future can find as good of a balance in laughter and action as this was able to.

74(tie). DEAD SOULS (dir: Bing Wang)
46 points
An invaluable historical documentary chronicling interviews from various aging survivors of the Jiabiangou and Mingshui re-education camps, which were created by the Chinese Communist Party in 1957 as part of their Anti-Rightist campaign. Although this doc is not quite as long as La Flor, at 8 hours and 15 minutes it's definitely not a breeze to get through either. 

73. THE OLD MAN & THE GUN (dir: David Lowery)
47 points
After last year's successful A Ghost Story (#10 on the 2017 countdown), David Lowery follows that up with a fun story starring Robert Redford as a bank robber that also turns out to be a tribute to the acting career of Robert Redford. It also stars Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover, and Casey Affleck. 

71(tie). JEANETTE: THE CHILDHOOD OF JOAN OF ARC (dir: Bruno Dumont)
48 points
Yet another re-appearance from a movie out of 2017's countdown, this time from the Dumont musical feature that finished last year at 57th place.

71(tie). A BREAD FACTORY PART ONE: FOR THE SAKE OF GOLD & A BREAD FACTORY PART TWO: WALK WITH ME A WHILE (dir: Patrick Wang)
48 points
A married couple that run a community arts space in the town named Checkford deals with various issues, including the arrival of a rival theater helmed by famous Chinese actors and the changing of their town's landscape. Both parts of this series of films clocked in at two hours apiece. When it came to deciding whether to split these features up or praise them together, pretty much each critic that included them in their top ten listed them as a duo, hence why I'm putting them together on this list. 

69(tie). LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (dir: Gan Bi)
49 points
A man returns to his home town (notice a theme developing among this year's top 85) in the hopes of reconnecting with a past lover. Earlier this month, this second directorial stint from the guy who made Kaili Blues (#57 in the 2016 poll) surprised everyone by becoming one of the few independent movies in recent memory to dominate the Chinese box office over the course of a weekend (albeit for hilarious reasons). 

69(tie). INCREDIBLES 2 (dir: Brad Bird)
49 points
Arguably the best Pixar sequel not to have the name Toy Story in it, we see Brad Bird's story of a superhero family continue as this time, Holly Hunter's Elastigirl gets picked to become a superhero employee for a major tech company. Pretty much the entire voice cast (including Craig T. Nelson, Samuel L. Jackson and Sarah Vowell) return, along with the incredible animation.

68. CAM (dir: Daniel Goldhaber)
50.5 points
A horror thriller about an Internet cam girl (played by Madeline Brewer) who discover that her own web show has her replaced by an exact replica, co-written by an ex-cam girl (Isa Mazzei).

67. DID YOU EVER WONDER WHO FIRED THE GUN? (dir: Travis Wilkerson)
51 points
A director recollects the story from the 1940's of how his great-grandfather murdered a black man in the Deep South and got away with it, exploring it in detail while also providing context into race relations in America.

66. AMAZING GRACE (dir: Sydney Pollack)
52 points
In 1972, director Sydney Pollack (already an established filmmaker with movies like They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and Jeremiah Johnson) filmed the recording of Aretha Franklin's famous album Amazing Grace at a church in Watts, Los Angeles. However, due to sound problems during recording as well as successful attempts by Franklin to have the movie blocked from premiering on multiple occassions, the movie finally got released this year, just a few short months after Franklin herself passed away (Pollack died in 2008). Now fans of gospel, Aretha Franklin, and good documentaries alike can appreciate this celebration of the power of music and the black church.

65. READY PLAYER ONE (dir: Steven Spielberg)
55 points
Based on the 2011 book by Ernest Cline, Spielberg's CGI-filled latest centers on a kid (Tye Sheridan) attempting to survivor living in a powerful virtual-reality simulator named OASIS, with all its pop culture nostalgia and intrigue.

64. THOROUGHBREDS (dir: Cory Finley)
57 points
Starring Olivia Cooke and Anna Taylor-Joy, this directorial debut by Finley tells of the friendship that develops between two Connecticut teenagers (one who is lower-class and one who is upper-class) as they plan the murder of the upper-class teen's step-father (Paul Sparks). Besides learning to once again be beguilded by the bourgeois lifestyle, viewers can also witness one of the last posthumous roles of Anton Yelchin (who died in 2016) as an accomplice in the teens' plan.

63. AS IS THE PUREST WHITE (dir: Jia Zhangke)
62.5 points
The legendary Chinese filmmaker returns (not too long after his last effort, Mountains May Depart, finished 59th in the 2016 poll) with yet another drama about his home country's gritty underbelly. Here, a woman named Qiao (played by Zhao Tao) is released from prison after firing a gun to protect her mobster lover (Fan Liao) and is now looking to see what he's up to now. 

62. CUSTODY (dir: Xavier Legrand) 
67 points
Winner of the Best Director award at the 2017 Venice Film Festival, Legrand's triumphs tells the dramatic story of a tumultuous divorce between an abusive husband (played by Denis Menochet) and his soon-to-be ex-wife (Lea Drucker). 

61. HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING (dir: RaMell Ross)
68.5 points
An expansive documentary about the lives of black residents living in Hale County, Alabama. 

60. THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS (dir: Tim Wardle)
69 points
This documentary centers on three men who meet one day to discover that they're, in fact, identical triplets who were each separated at birth. The days that follow for them lead to not only media attention, but additional secrets uncovered.

59. MONROVIA, INDIANA (dir: Frederick Wiseman)
69.5 points
Poor Frederick Wiseman. After placing in the top 50 in each of the last five years, I'm afraid that he will only have to settle with a mere #59 this time. Hopefully, he recovers. Anyways, the structure of his latest documentary is largely the same as all his others: a lengthy exploration of a specific location. This time, it's the town of Monrovia, Indiana, and how it ties to some of the other rural-towns at the heart of the American Midwest.

58. CRAZY RICH ASIANS (dir: Jon M. Chu)
72.5 points
An NYU professor (played by Constance Wu) has to deal with the experience of getting married at her fiance's (Henry Golding) rich family's Singapore estate. Hyped as being the first major Hollywood movie with an all-Asian main cast in decades, Crazy Rich Asians was awarded with not just major box office success (finishing #1 on multiple occasions) but also critical acclaim and even awards recognition (such as some Golden Globes and SAG nominations).

57. LADY BIRD (dir: Greta Gerwig)
73 points
After finishing #2 in the 2017 countdown, Gerwig's directorial debut manages to return to the countdown after wowing a whole new audience of people. 

56. FREE SOLO (dir: Elizabeth Chai Vasarheyli, Jimmy Chin)
82.5 points
Love documentaries like Man on Wire and Touching the Void? Then you'll likely enjoy this one too, about the mountain climber Alex Honnold and his mission to climb Yosemite's El Capitan rock without a single rope.

55. THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (dir: Martin McDonagh)
85 points
Winner of the Academy Awards for Best Actress (Frances McDormand) and Best Supporting Actor (Sam Rockwell), this controversial story about a woman attempting to avenge her daughter's death was greeted warmly by the various European and Australian critics who had finally seen it in 2018. This film had already placed #8 on the 2017 countdown.

54. THE HATE U GIVE (dir: George Tillman, Jr.)
86.5 points
Based on the Angie Thomas book from 2017, this movie takes on some very zeitgeisty topics like police brutality as it follows a young woman (Amandla Stenberg) dealing with having witness a black kid getting killed by an officer while unarmed. 

53. SHIRKERS (dir: Sandi Tan)
89.5 points
A fascinating documentary based on director Sandi Tan's experience of directing a short film that her film teacher had stolen the film footage of and never returned. 

52. HIGH LIFE (dir: Claire Denis)
90 points
The first of two Claire Denis-directed movies on this countdown is the one that most audiences likely won't get a chance to see until later in 2019, when it gets released for general audiences. It's the acclaimed French director most highly-budgeted and highly-publicized movie yet: an A24-produced film set in space starring Robert Pattinson and Juliette Binoche. The film received mixed reviews in its premiere at Toronto, but still managed to gain enough of a following to just nearly get a top 50 spot on this countdown from the festival circuit alone.

51. THE IMAGE BOOK (dir: Jean-Luc Godard)
92 points
The living legend came out with yet another series of fragmented, color-saturated visual collages, his first since the highly-received Goodbye to Language (#11 on the 2014 countdown). Premiering at Cannes back in May, it talked about ruining of the modern horrors of living in this planet (among other things). Hopefully, it's not the last for the 88 year old.

50. LEAN ON PETE (dir: Andrew Haigh)
93.5 points
A Neorealism-esque movie about a young man (Charlie Plummer) who develops a loving relationship with a racehorse during a tough time in his life, and decides to save the horse from death when it gets an injury. Directed by the man behind 45 Years (#17 on the 2015 countdown) and Weekend (#30 on the 2011 countdown), it's also got Steve Buscemi, and Chloe Sevigny in the main cast.

49. WESTERN (dir: Valeska Grisebach)
94 points
A German worker (Meinhard Neumann) gets an engineer job in Bulgaria, and develops a cross-cultural relationship with many of the local townspeople. This is the second straight year that the Grisebach picture makes the list, after wowing critics and festival goers in 2017 enough to appear at #42 on last year's countdown (making it one of the rare movies to get more points before it was released for general audiences to see). 

48. AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL (dir: Hu Bo)
103 points
Yet another ambitious story in a 2018 full of ambitious projects (see: La Flor and Dead Souls from earlier). Clocking in at 3 hours and 54 minutes, it tells an interconnected plot involving four narratives of people on the brink, during a period in which China enters an economic downturn. This film is sadly marked by tragedy, however, as as film's director Hu Bo (also an acclaimed novelist) killed himself just after its filming following a series of arguments with the movie's producers. The film was edited posthumously, with Hu's family gaining the rights to the finished work. 

47. BISBEE '17 (dir: Robert Greene)
111.5 points
A tragic documentary about the gruesome story of thousands of miners in 1917 who, during their strike, were rounded up by police and townspeople and sent by train to the New Mexico desert so that they could die.

46. LET THE SUNSHINE IN (dir: Claire Denis)
112 points
The second Denis movie on the countdown, one which also stars Juliette Binoche. This time, we follow the romantic life of Binoche's middle aged Parisian artist character, in all its messiness and cringe-inducing moments.

45. 24 FRAMES (dir: Abbas Kiarostami)
114.5 points
The final released movie in the United States from the career of the legendary Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, who died in 2016. It's an experimental work from him, where he shoots 24 different four-and-a-half minute shorts inspired by a series of photographs and other images.

44. VICE (dir: Adam McKay)
116.5 points
Call it a fatigue over the same filmmaking style he attempted in The Big Short (#12 on the 2015 countdown), but McKay's follow-up to that previous Oscar-winning triumph just didn't have as much acclaim, placing only at #44. Focusing on the life of former Vice-President Dick Cheney (Christian Bale), the film manages to also scrutinize the entire political environment from the last fifty years that made the present what it was by 2018. Amy Adams, Steve Carell, and Sam Rockwell also star.

43. GREEN BOOK (dir: Peter Farrelly) 
129 points
Whodathunk that the guy behind Dumb & Dumber and There's Something About Mary would produced one of the more heart-warming dramas of Oscar season? Winner of the Audience Award at the Toronto Film Festival as well as the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical, it follows a series of trips taken by Mahershala Ali's African-American character, Dr. Don Shirley, and his Italian-American chauffer (played by Viggo Mortensen) through the Deep South in the 1960's during Shirley's piano-playing tour in the region.

42. ISLE OF DOGS (dir: Wes Anderson)
155 points
Wes Anderson has had a pretty great run of movies the last ten years or so. His last two efforts, Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel, were not only two of his biggest financial hits, it also got tons of awards recognition and critical appreciation (appearing at #3 in the 2012 countdown and #2 in the 2014 countdown respectively). Isle of Dogs, a story about a young Japanese boy trying to find his lost dog at an island of castaway canines, also got quite a bit of love, although (as you can see by its spot at merely #42 on this year's list), it wasn't that much. Perhaps it was because of the controversy of cultural appropriation. Perhaps it was because of it being animated. Whatever the case, it should still be mentioned that it had a good story with a terrific voice cast (Greta Gerwig, Bryan Cranston, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, and more).

41. THE DEATH OF STALIN (dir: Armando Ianucci)
162.5 points
A delightful satire on the Soviet Union during the 1950's, set during the days following the death of notorious dictator Joseph Stalin, as written and directed by the mind behind Veep and In the Loop. Steve Buscemi and Simon Russell Beale star as Nikita Khrushchev and Lavrenti Beria, each of who are furiously chasing to take over as the top of the Communist Party. Jeffrey Tambor, Michael Palin, Olga Kurylenko, and Jason Isaacs also play key roles.

40. TRANSIT (dir: Christian Petzold) 
166 points 
And in the category of Most Beloved 2018 Movie Not Receiving Commercial Release Until 2019, this year's honor goes to Transit, a story about a Frenchman (Franz Rogowski) who flees the Nazis by impersonating an author, only to encounter the author's wife after the war. It feels like it's in a similar vein to Petzold's previous movie, Phoenix (#11 on the 2015 countdown), which also centers on people experiencing WWII and its aftermath. It will be interesting to see how well this movie does when it inevitably reappears in the 2019 countdown.

39. MADELINE'S MADELINE (dir: Josephine Decker)
182 points
What happens when you tackle sensitive issues like mental illness and family trauma, but do so with interpretative dance and experimental theater? It would probably look something like this picture, about a troubled high schooler (played by Helena Howard) who joins a theater troupe and is used by its director (Molly Parker) for creative inspiration.

38. SUSPIRIA (dir: Luca Guadagnino)
188 points
A year after wowing critics with Call Me By Your Name (#3 on the 2017 countdown), director Luca Guadagnino's next venture went into adaptation mode: re-making the classic 1977 Dario Argento horror, but with more references to Nazis and World War II. To the relief of many, it was found to be not bad at all, but actually quite good!

37. THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT (dir: Lars Von Trier)
192 points
It's Lars Von Trier having Matt Dillon play a serial killer. It's as provocative and Von Trier-y as you'd expect.

36. AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (dir: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo)
205 points
Ten years of Marvel Cinematic Universe movies come to a head in this mega-blockbuster, where pretty much all the main characters from the franchise (the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy buddies, the Wakandas, etc.) get together in an epic, inter-galactic mission to fight Thanos (played by Josh Brolin) as he attempts to gain all the infinity gauntlet items and wipe off half the human population. It finished with not only the highest worldwide gross of 2018, but it also beat the U.S. and worldwide box office record for opening weekends, beating previous record holder Star Wars: The Force Awakens (#21 in the 2015 poll). Should be interesting if the follow-up to this movie (which gets released in the summer) manages to top it with an even higher debut.

35. HAPPY AS LAZARRO (dir: Alice Rohrwacher) 
214.5 points
Debuting to raves at Cannes (where it also won Best Screenplay), this second feature from the young Italian director of The Wonders (#64 in the 2015 countdown) tells a story of a young peasant boy (Adriano Tardiolo) through a mix of realism and the fantastical.

34. WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? (dir: Morgan Neville)
218 points
A documentary about Fred Rogers, the legendary public television show host of the children's program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Over the summer, the film ran a wave of nostalgia and good reviews into a surprisingly successful box office run, becoming the highest grossing of its genre since 2013.

33. PHANTOM THREAD (dir: Paul Thomas Anderson)
219.5 points
One of Paul Thomas Anderson's biggest critical breakthroughs managed to have itself a great 2018 in addition to a great 2017 (where it finished #7 on that year's countdown). Not only did it surprise everyone with more Oscar nominations than was originally predicted (six, including Best Picture), it continued to be beloved by critics, this time those critics outside the U.S. who could finally see it in the late winter-time. This is the highest ranking movie on this year's countdown that would've also been eligible for the 2017 countdown.

32. A QUIET PLACE (dir: John Krasinski)
222.5 points
In a post-apocalyptic world in which a species of alien lifeforms kill any human who makes a sound, we see one family (led by real-life married couple John Krasinski and Emily Blunt) attempt to survive through them in the American heartlands. Thanks to an inventive premise as well as great reviews and great promotion, the film also managed to do well in the box office. It was also nominated for such prestigious awards as the Producers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Production of a Theatrical Motion Picture.

31. PRIVATE LIFE (dir: Tamara Jenkins)
223.5 points
In her first film since 2007's The Savages, Tamara Jenkins explores the story of a middle-aged couple (played by Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti) who are attempted to have themselves a baby. After years of trying to find funding, the movie was finally able to get the money and distribution from Netflix, which is where the movie premiered during the fall. 


Coming later this week: Part 2, in which we reveal with movies placed in the 2018 top 30. See ya then!